Confucianism – Sacred Texts

Confucianism - Sacred Texts

The Chinese Classics

These are key texts of Confucianism, the traditional state religion of feudal China. These are some of the few Chinese texts which survived a disasterous book-burning in 213 B.C.E. by the Emperor Ch’in Shih Huang.

Confucian Canon.

Although three of four of these books are traditionally attributed to Confucius (K’ung-tzu, 551-479 B.C.E.) it has been established that he did not write a single word of them; they were written down by his students after his death. The Analects come closest to an actual exposition of his philosophy. These works were put into their present form by Chu Hsi in the late twelfth century C.E. These four books were required reading in order to pass the civil service exminations, (started in 1315), which were the gateway to employment in the Imperial bureaucracy. The translations are by James Legge, from his ‘Chinese Classics’ series.

The fifth classic (which we don’t currently have translation of at this site) is the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Ch’un Ch’iu. There was also a sixth classic, the Classic of Music (the Yüeh Ching), which was lost.

The Hsiao Ching
The Book of Filial Piety. this is a fragmentary text, recommended by Confucius, one of the few that survived the book burning.